A New York Super Bowl? The horror!!!

So on Tuesday afternoon, the NFL announced live on NFL Network that the site of the 2014 Super Bowl will be New York/New Jersey, at the new Meadowlands Stadium. It will be the first Super Bowl to be held in an open-air stadium in a location that is generally cold that that time of the year (Super Bowl IV was held in Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, and the temperature was 39 degrees, so it’s not going to be the first cold-weather Super Bowl).

(By the way, doesn’t NFL Mobile rock? I was at the Maryland MVA getting my driver’s license renewed, but got to watch the announcement live.)

Anyway, since the announcement, numerous stories have come out in the media about what a horrible idea this is. I’ve summarized these stories below.

It’s going to be cold!!!!!!!!!

It’s going to be windy!!!!!!!!

It’s going to be snowing!!!!

No one is going to want to go!!!!!!

Good luck getting someone to perform at halftime!!!!

The weather could affect the game’s outcome!!!!!

They’re gambling with an American institution!!!!!

What about all the parties???

The game is supposed to be in Miami!!!!! (exclusive to South Florida media)

In short, what a crock of shit. Most of these comments are too stupid to really be covered, but then again, what’s the point of this post otherwise?

1. Every team in the NFL is used to playing in cold weather. The players come from different colleges and universities from around the country, including schools in….GASP….cold-weather locations. And every division in the NFL has at least one team in a moderately-cold or worse location (Carolina had an average temperature in the 40s in December and January, and Tennessee has average temperature in the 40s in December, and in the 30s in January). And every team in the NFL has to go to different locations around the country to play games, including locations in…GASP…cold-weather cities!

2. So Joe Gibbs has told the story about the time his Washington Redskins went to Giants Stadium and lost 17-0 in the NFC Championship Game. The game was notoriously windy, to the point that Giants punter Sean Landeta is largely considered the game’s MVP. Dear Joe, maybe if Gary Clark hadn’t dropped a perfectly-placed, wide-open, guaranteed-touchdown bomb, your team might have been more competitive. Dear Joe, maybe if your team hadn’t botched a field goal snap, your team might have been more competitive. Dear Joe, maybe if your offensive gameplan didn’t require your QB to throw the ball 50 times, your team might have been more competitive. Dear Joe, the last I checked, wind is not exclusive to cold-weather locations.

3. Greg Cote of the Miami Herald is a funny guy. He commented on the probability of snow during the Super Bowl. Hey Greg, this isn’t Buffalo, with an average of 24 inches in January and another 17 in February. Nor is it Syracuse, with 30 and 25 inches. The National Climatic Data Center has been tracking snowfall in New York for 134 years. Central Park (the closest location they measure) gets 7.5 inches in January and 8.5 in Febuary. Those totals are spread over a month. Usually it’s an inch here, two inches there, a half-inch another time, one and half after that. Last winter was the execption, not the rule. I grew up in New Jersey, about 45 minutes away from Giants Stadium. I could count the number of White Christmases on my 32 on one hand. Yes, it could snow. Yes, it might snow. No, it probably won’t snow. And if it does snow, well I call that “Football Weather.”

4. Ever watch Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve. Every year, it’s estimated that about a million people gather in the middle of the night to welcome in the new year. And you’re afraid people won’t go to a football game that’s 15 minutes away, starts at 6 p.m., and is over by 10 at the latest?

5. Here is a list of the performers who have appeared in the middle of the night on New Years Eve in Times Square: Jennifer Lopez, Daughtry, the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Jesse McCarthy, Miley Cyrus, and Carrie Underwood. This was just in the last three years. Notice that none of these acts are eligible for an AARP meembership. This is a good thing.

6. What is a true champion? A team that does one style very well and sticks to it, or a team that is able to succeed in multiple conditions and makes the neccessary adjustments?

7. This may be the dumbest statement of all. The wind chill was -18 degrees in the 2008 NFC Championship Game in Green Bay. Was the Giants’ win somehow cheapened by this? Should we have postponed the Ice Bowl and waited for a warmer day. I hear Raiders’ fans whining about the Tuck Rule game, but it’s because of the Tuck Rule more than the snow on the ground. There have been some classic games in the cold (there have been some duds as well, but there have been plenty of dud Super Bowls as well).

8. What about all the parties? This is New York City. You think NewYork doesn’t know how to party? The week leading up is going to have some of the best parties the Super Bowl has even seen. Only Vegas and New Orleans could outdo New York.

I’m psyched about having the Super Bowl in the Meadowlands. I’ll probably be watching the game on TV in my home in Maryland, but this game could have classic written all over it.

By the way, let’s not forget the real reason so much of the media is against the game (although they aren’t printing it). The writers and bloggers all lose their week-long vacation to a sunny location. Mike Greenberg of ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning admits that he will miss lounging by the pool after their show is over. No beaches + no bikinis = WAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!